11/30/2013

Sony's PSN woes aren't over just yet. The company has temporarily stopped taking PlayStation promo codes following a surge in traffic on the gaming service; for the moment, money cards and game vouchers won't work. There's no estimate for when code redemption will return. It's easy to see the potential causes, however. Between the weekend, the PlayStation 4's European launch and a big discount on PlayStation Plus subscriptions at Amazon, there's guaranteed to be a deluge of PSN activity -- Sony may have unintentionally created a perfect storm.

11/25/2013

The Moto G may not reach the US until January, but that doesn't mean it will be unavailable on North American shores until then. Motorola's budget wunderkind has just reached the continent through Canada's Telus and its low-cost Koodo brand. Both carriers are selling the 8GB smartphone for $200 CAD ($189 US) off-contract; thriftier shoppers can get the Moto G for free on a two-year Telus agreement, or $50 at Koodo with a $150 use tab. Other local carriers aren't expected to offer the Moto G in the near future, so this may represent the best chance of getting the handset for both Canucks and eager American importers.

How much is Snapchat worth? It's clear its founders think the answer is more than $3 billion. The ephemeral photo-texting service rejected a buyout offer from Facebook, and not long after that news broke, Snapchat got implicated in a child pornography investigation in Canada. Meanwhile, HealthCare.gov's tech woes were the focus of a House Oversight panel investigation, and a separate House panel released documents showing the July warnings that things weren't looking good, preparation-wise. IT procurement is getting more love and attention from Washington figures, so earlier in the week we featured a handful examples of government IT projects that actually worked.

11/17/2013

Retailers are spending big on iPads and other tablets in a bid to increase efficiency and enhance the in-store shopping experience. But with new opportunities come potential pitfalls. Here’s how to handle the most common ones.

Employee timewasting

The big retail splurge on tablets has enabled companies to quickly check stock, take payments, and even view store sales performance. But one of the early problems retailers have had to counter is how their employees misuse these devices.

Temptations like Angry Birds, Facebook, and Twitter, among others lie in the way of real tablet productivity, but there are ways of curtailing this activity such as locking the iPad to one app using Guided Access and by utilizing a Mobile Device Management Solution.

“Time wasting on tablets is a potential problem if retail employees are given a tablet with full internet access to use,” says Ovum analyst Richard Absalom. “We think that this issue is best dealt with through HR policies and a performance review system—you can see if performance is suffering and act accordingly, not necessarily using a technology solution. However, if retailers do want to put controls in place, using an MDM client can monitor device usage and log activity.”

Poor wireless connectivity

It doesn’t matter how many tablets you deploy in-store, they’ll be useless if your Wi-Fi router can’t keep up with demand . As Aron Schwarzkopf, CEO of tablet POS start-up Leaf, explains, where you place your wireless access point is key.

Make sure you deploy enough wireless access points in the right spots so you have reliable connectivity for your tablets.

“One area that many small businesses don’t give much thought about when deploying tablets is their wireless connection,” says Schwarzkopf. “For the most part, it’s something they’ve never had to deal with before—and even if they have it’s usually out of sight and out of mind already. However, an unreliable Wi-Fi connection can negate any of the benefits you hope to gain from tablets, and cause a lot of headaches along the way.

Schwarzkopf suggests putting your access point high in an open space where you have a direct line of sight to the areas where you’ll use your tablets.

Device breakage

Portability is part of a tablet’s appeal, but the devices aren’t designed to withstand the heavy knocks, drops, and liquid spillage they may be subjected to in a retail environment. So be sure to equip your device with a rugged case and stand.

“Retailers and restaurants overall have fewer problems when they deploy tablets rather than a similar implementation with a PC-based Windows point of sale terminal,” says Jason Richelson, chief executive of POS system ShopKeep. “There are fewer cables with a tablet and a battery backup is built in to name a few [benefits]. [But] we definitely recommend using a strong stand like the Heckler stand we offer which allows you to swivel the iPad and locks it down to the counter.”

Payment security

Some retailers have taken to using the iPad as a mobile POS system, and while that has worked well in most scenarios, it does also open up the possibility of data theft should any malicious software infect the device. Because of that risk, Erik Vlugt, vice president of product marketing for VeriFone, suggests a different solution to avoid any such issues.

“Passing payment data through a consumer electronics device and over a wireless network creates a number of new concerns,” he says. “In general, retailers are best served by separating the secure payment system from the tablet. This helps to achieve a clear delineation between the business logic and the payment logic.”

Tracking analytics

Your tablet won’t be anything more than eye-candy if it doesn’t serve up sufficient new information on how your business operates. For that, you should be looking to deploy a cloud-based tablet solution so that you have a firm grip on everything from sales and inventory to useful back-office data.

Writing in TabTimes recently, Revel CEO Lisa Falzone described how a cloud-based solution is vital for anywhere, anytime access and added that it can represent significant cost savings too: “One of the largest time and cost savings of a cloud-based system is that it negates the need to physically have or access a back-office server since all data is accessible from anywhere with Internet access.”

11/14/2013

The Nike+ FuelBand SE is still a pretty young product, having only been officially released earlier this month. Now, as part of its new Metaluxe Collection, Nike is introducing a special edition model in a Rose Gold hue. This shiny but subtle FuelBand SE will be up for grabs beginning on November ...

Uma strikes 12 beautiful poses in the vibrant calendar, which features images from all around the world.

“The 2014 Calendar is a stunning piece of artwork which perfectly conveys the positive energy and pleasure which Campari lovers around the world can enjoy through our worldwide celebration,” Uma said. “The Calendar photographer, Koto Bolofo, has been fantastic to work with and inspired me throughout the shoot. There is nothing more enjoyable than a celebration and I feel confident that people around the world will enjoy the worldwide celebration which the Campari Calendar provides.”

11/08/2013

The sad march towards tribal fiefdoms continued Thursday, as Google announced that it will only allow Chrome for Windows users to download extensions hosted by Google's own Chrome Web Store starting in January.

Google says the decision to transform Chrome into a gated community stems from security concerns, in an echo of the official reason that Microsoft moved to the Windows Store model to distribute modern UI apps. Google engineering director Erik Kay points the finger at the damage caused by rogue extensions in a blog post detailing the lock-down.

Bad actors have abused this mechanism, bypassing the prompt to silently install malicious extensions that override browser settings and alter the user experience in undesired ways, such as replacing the New Tab Page without approval. In fact, this is a leading cause of complaints from our Windows users.

The policy shift will no doubt make it easier for Google to police the sanctity of said extensions. Google's been on a bit of a security tear recently; last week, the company announced plans to step up Chrome's malware-busting chops.

But, it's also worth noting, developers who want to include their Chrome Web Store have to pay a $5 registration fee--and if your Chrome Web Store-hosted app or extension generates income, Google will take a 5 percent cut of the revenue.